Amici Represented by Curtis Pro Bono See Favorable Result in SCOTUS

On January 9, 2026, in Bowe v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the petitioner supported by amici that were represented pro bono by a Curtis appellate team. The Court held that the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA) does not bar federal prisoners from making repeated challenges to their convictions and sentences, or from seeking high court review if they fail. The ruling vacated an Eleventh Circuit decision barring Michael Bowe, a federal prisoner, from filing successive motions to vacate his conviction. The Supreme Court held that the AEDPA provision barring state prisoners from filing second or successive petitions for habeas corpus does not apply to federal prisoners seeking to vacate their convictions based on subsequent changes in the law.

The Curtis team filed an amicus brief in the case on behalf of, and in collaboration with, instructors and students from, the University of Virginia School of Law’s Civil Rights Clinic, among others. The brief aimed to highlight the real injustices caused by the inconsistent application of this procedural bar on second or successive motions to vacate a conviction, highlighting how incarcerated persons in one Circuit may have the opportunity to challenge their convictions in light of subsequent changes in law, while others were being denied the opportunity based on the same subsequent change.

The Curtis team, led by Juan Perla, included T. Barry Kingham, Robert García, and Joseph Muschitiello.